1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to tools for manipulating contact lenses, and more particularly to an assembly and method for manipulating a contact lens and inserting the contact lens into a user's eye without contaminating the contact lens.
2. Description of Related Art
Contact lenses have increased greatly in popularity in recent years. Unfortunately, as the number of users increases, the potential for harmful eye infections also increases. There is a recognized need for a tool to assist users in inserting their contact lenses into their eyes. It is especially important that the tool insert the contact lens into the user's eye in an uncontaminated condition to avoid eye infection. It is also important that the tool is safe and easy to use.
The traditional method of inserting contact lenses consists of placing the contact lens onto the user's fingertip and manually inserting the contact lens into the user's eye. There are several drawbacks to this method. First, the user's fingers often contaminate the contact lens. Second, the user's fingers may injure the user's eye if he pokes himself, especially if the user has long or jagged finger nails. Third, the contact lens will tend to fold, invert, and otherwise stick to the user's fingertip, making insertion impossible. If the contact lens does not adhere to the user's finger, it often simply falls off the user's finger and must be rinsed off so the user can try again. This handling and dropping on the ground further increases the risk of contamination and infection.
Many prior art devices have been devised to try to overcome these difficulties. Particularly relevant prior art patents include Schoup, U.S. Pat. No. 4,123,098, Rainin, U.S. Pat. No. 4,097,976, and Carruthers, U.S. Pat. No. 3,934,914, which disclose suction cup devices designed to removable hold the contact lens for insertion into the user's eye. Unfortunately, this still requires some handling of the contact lens by the user to mount the lens on the suction cup. Furthermore, these tools do not work with soft contact lenses and are generally restricted to use with hard contact lenses. This limitation is due to the flexible nature of soft contact lenses. It is nearly impossible to position a soft lens onto the suction cup of these prior art devices. The lens simply inverts, folds, and sticks to itself, failing to attain the correct shape necessary to conform to the suction cup. This limits the usefulness of these devices to hard contact lenses.
Other patents disclose devices that are claimed to be useful for soft contact lenses. Examples of these devices include England, U.S. Pat. No. 4,190,277, List, U.S. Pat. No. 4,126,345, and Horres, U.S. Pat. No. 3,645,576. These patents disclose various grasping and holding devices for soft contact lenses. These devices, however, are very difficult to use; they present a serious risk of poking the user's eyes and causing serious damage; and they still require the user to touch the contact lens with his or her fingers, seriously detracting from the benefit of the devices.
The prior art teaches various suction cups and other devices to hold a contact lens for insertion into the eye. However, the prior art does not teach a tool that allows the user to insert the contact without touching the lens. The prior art also does not teach a device that allows the user to insert a soft contact lens while minimizing the danger of the user damaging his eye with the insertion device. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages as described in the following summary.